One of the other types of documentary that we did not watch in class however is very popular all over the world, which is; observational mode which is also known as reality tv. This is when there is a group of people who are being filmed without any purpose the way in which they communicate with the audience is when they have private interviews. A good example of this is big brother as the housemates are not in the house for any real reason other than just entertainment. This mode of documentary can be quite controversial as some people do not agree with the content of the show as they find it not fit for tv viewing.  

 

Expository mode; this mode of documentary is made to expose a story, a goof example of this could be 24 hours in police custody, as this film exposes the victims and criminals. There is usually original footage used to inform the audience of the crime, there is also often an interview with a police officer who will explain the crime in detail to the audience who may not understand.  In class we watched two episodes of this mode of documentary which explained  

 

 

Participatory mode: This mode is often different to the others, it will be introduced by a few montage videos to introduce the subject of the documentary. We will then hear a voiceover of the filmmaker/presenter who will explain who he is and what the documentary will include. There is usually then an interview between the filmmaker and the subject of the documentary. This mode of documentary usually becomes quite touching and can often change opinions for some people, depending on what the topic is.  

 

Performative mode; this type of documentary can be similar to participatory mode in the way that it notices the emotional and subjective aspects of documentary and addresses the audience emotionally.  It can again be like participatory mode in the sense that by the end of watching the documentary you could form a more informed opinion on the subject matter.  

 

What is the evolution of documentary and will it die out over time? 

The first ever documentary was called Nannook of the north (1922) in this documentary we follow a family in search for food. Documentaries have changed significantly since this film was first made, for example we now have special effects which are used in the editing process to make the documentary more interesting. For example in the last decade technology has developed so much that features like chromakey allows filmmakers to trick the audience into thinking the fake is reality especially in a documentary scenario. 

Throughout the years there have also been many subgenres made such as mockumentaries there are many mockumentaries such as Borat (2006), which is about a filmmaker from Europe who goes to America to find out about life there. Some people find Borat (2006) very offensive because of the way it is made and edited. In the film, the people that are being interviewed by Borat are not aware that it is all fake and therefore the reactions are all real. In comparison to this there is a netflix series called American Vandal (2017) in this programme it is about a school which gets vanalised and some students are trying to solve the mystery of who did it, this type of documentary was all acting and was all completely fake. This type of sub-genre is becoming more and more popular with people of my generation, because it is very funny and some people may be able to relate to the humor, and because of its ever growing popularity I believe that this sub-genre will be something that will take over in the future.  

However, saying this lots of people from my generation enjoy watching Blue planet (2001), where they will see animals in their natural habitats however what my argument is would Blue Planet (2001) be as popular if David Attenborough were not to be the presenter? I also believe that it is important to look at the both sides of every opinion and when Blue planet (2001) was made there was a spin off show called Walk on the wild side (2009) where there was voice overs on the animals, personally I found this very funny however some people though it to be wrong that animals were being portrayed in this way. 

I believe that in the future there will always be documentary however I believe that there will be less modes for example I feel that poetic modes will die out or become less popular as people of my generation would rather be told the information than having to work it out for themselves. I also feel that there will be more reality, or 7 second documentaries such as: Vines this is because my generation does not have a very long attention span. So these sort documentaries would be perfect. Saying this I do believe that in the future there will be a niche for the old kind of documentaries that will still be made.  

I also believe that documentaries will adapt to social ways and will change there subjects  to whatever may be the most important issues of the times. In more recent times green screen has become a huge part of film and I truly believe that this will continue and that documentaries will become a high quality as some of the top films are.  

 

I believe that from completing this essay I have learned a lot about documentary and film, something I actually did not know was that there was different modes of documentaries and what they meant as before I was a passive audience member and would have never been able to tell the difference between the different styles. From being able to go through this process of research I have been able to understand the process of how these films are made.  

I have also been able to look into reality shows in more depth to be able to understand just how they work and have come to the conclusion that all film is fiction and that I do believe documentaries will continue in the future however they will be a lot different to how they are now and that mockumentaries may become even more known and even more popular. So to conclude I have very much enjoyed completing this essay and am very happy with what I have found out and how I have presented this.